A look at where the Navy’s 11 aircraft carriers are now

WASHINGTON —  The Navy is weighing what to do about the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which has been battling Houthi rebel attacks on shipping in the Red Sea for nearly nine months. The question is how to replicate the carrier’s combat power if the ship returns home.

The service has 11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. Generally, at any given time, they are getting ready to deploy, are deployed or have come off deployment and gone back to port for maintenance and repairs.

The carriers have a lifespan of about 50 years, and halfway through they undergo a major overhaul of their nuclear and other systems, which can take several years.

Here’s a look at where the Navy’s carriers are now:

Deployed

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower — Based in Norfolk, Va., and in the Red Sea, it left Norfolk on Oct. 14, 2023. It’s mission has been extended twice.

USS George Washington — It is off the coast of Chile, sailing from Norfolk to San Diego and then on to Japan, where it will be deployed, replacing the USS Ronald Reagan.

USS Theodore Roosevelt — Based in San Diego, it has been deployed with the Indo-Pacific Command since January and is in the South China Sea.

USS Ronald Reagan — It has been deployed in Japan. It is on patrol in the Philippine Sea and will be going to San Diego for maintenance.

Preparing to deploy

USS Harry S. Truman — It is based off the coast of Norfolk in predeployment exercises. It is about halfway through its training for deployment and doing exercises with the strike group. It is expected to deploy in October or November.

USS Carl Vinson — It is in port in San Diego and is in predeployment mode. It will go to the large, multinational military exercise known as the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) in July and deploy with the Pacific Command late in the year.

USS Abraham Lincoln — It is based in San Diego and has just finished its final composite unit training exercises and will deploy with the Pacific Command in July.

Under repair

USS George H. W. Bush — It went into maintenance last December.

USS Gerald R. Ford — It just returned from deployment and has entered its maintenance phase, which should last about a year.

USS John C. Stennis — In May 2021, the Stennis went into what’s known as RCOH — the major refueling complex overhaul — which can take four years. It is expected to return to duty in 2025. RCOH happens about midway through a carrier’s lifespan, and during that time the ship’s electronics and combat and propulsion systems are upgraded, replaced and tested.

USS Nimitz — It went into maintenance in October 2023 and will move to predeployment exercises later this year.

Under construction

USS John F. Kennedy — It will be delivered to the Navy next year.

Baldor writes for the Associated Press.